FRANCIS MARION SMITH (1846-1911)

Having long been an admirer of this California personality, I place him on a tier with Leland Stanford. However, few know of his identity, I find. But just say, "20 MULE TEAM", then the whole country raises its hands! The Pacific Coast Borax Company is as magic a name as Wells Fargo is to most Americans. And it was Francis Marion Smith that introduced the substance to the masses and opened up Death Valley to the world! It was he who came to be known affectionately, as "Borax" Smith. People are very prone to use the word "borax" for something it isn't! It is in the same vein as using the word "cement" in lieu of "concrete" for driveways, highways, block, etc. Borax is in reality a rare mineral, and boron-bearing commercial ores are usually always of a borate nature. The small quantities of so-called "Cottonball" found close to Harmony near Furnace Creek in Death Valley, were of this rare compound. Frank Smith was a genuine "doer", which in modern day parlance may be translated into having been an outstanding entrepreneur. He first ventured west from Wisconsin, and in 1872 found himself near Columbus, Nevada--employed as a contract wood cutter for a small borax refinery operating on Columbus Marsh. In the nearby hills, he built a small cabin where he set up residency. He became interested in this boron element--a curiosity that remained with him the rest of his life. Soon, it was his good fortune to discover Borax across the hills on Ted's Marsh. He claimed property on the marsh's richest portions, and with his brother, Julius, had a small refinery built and the two began operating as Smith Brothers Borax Company, operating out of nearby Marietta. Also a marketing office was set up in New York City, where the qualities of this new product were ballyhooed to high heaven! In 1875 he married Mary B Thompson, and she came with him to Marietta. William T Coleman of San Francisco was also interested in boron compounds and had production in hand. When Coleman suffered financial reverses in the early 80s, Frank Smith took over--in the Furnace Creek area at the Harmony Works. Later, the Monte Blanco deposits in Furnace Creek Wash, and thee Amargosa deposits below Shoshone helped Smith prosper. By 1890, Smith's Pacific Coast Borax Company had come into being. In the early 90s, new borate finds centered in the Calico Mtns near Barstow, and new workings; at a place called Borate took shape. The prior locations were shut down. Smith ordered built the 12-mile Borate & Daggett RR, a line passing thru Marion (where the calcining plant was located--with ruins still visible today). PCB-treated ores were shipped to Daggett for transfer to the Santa Fe. Incidentally, their two steam locomotives bore the names of Francis and Marion. Somewhere in this era, control of PCB passed to Borax Consolidated, Ltd in London, however Smith was still retained as PCB President. One of the miners in Borate was William Washington Cahill--more commonly known as "Wash". When the Lila C. property was later secured, a need for transportation existed, so Smith was behind the creation of the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad Company, Ltd. Wash Cahill became its Superintendent at Ludlow, and stayed with the operation from start to finish! In 1933 the T & T's general offices shifted from Ludlow to Death Valley Junction. "Borax" Smith was based in Oakland. He was a benefactor of Mills College there, and their campanile is a Smith Family gift. He was boss of

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